Dig into the false analogy fallacy, which assumes that because two things share a characteristic, they must be alike in other respects.

It’s 1997. The United States Senate has called a hearing about global warming. Some expert witnesses point out that past periods in Earth’s history were warmer than the 20th century. Because such variations existed long before humans, they claim the current trend is also the result of natural variation. Can you spot the problem with this argument? Elizabeth Cox explores the false analogy fallacy.

Lesson by Elizabeth Cox, directed by TOGETHER.

Support Our Non-Profit Mission

Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon
Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop

Connect With Us

Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter
Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook
Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter
Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram

Keep Learning

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-outsmart-the-apples-and-oranges-fallacy-elizabeth-cox
Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-outsmart-the-apples-and-oranges-fallacy-elizabeth-cox#digdeeper

Animator's website: https://wearetogether.ca/

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Ryan Weiler, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Itay Levi, Cameron Chakraverty, Petr Vacek, Rhys Patterson, Dennis, Margaret King, Olivia Fu, Katrina Adams, Regina Post, Mary Collins, Kari Teffeau, clumsybunnie, Adam Leos, Jeremy Laurin, Cindy Lai, Liz, Hannah Nommé, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Alejandro Gomez, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Isorn Sookwanish, Iryna Panasiuk, Diane Gallin, Aaron Torres, Janice ESL, Vasundhar, Dessislava Vassileva, Denka Wee, Daru Bhargav, Brett Kaufman, Amy, Michael Clement, Christopher Lye, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Max Salas, Xavi Ramos, Khoa Nguyen Anh, Ron Kakar, Jennifer Heald and flóra lili donáti.